Jogging For Beginners: Shins Hurt

Yesterday I started my personal walk/jog exercise regime. I was able to do 9 min of jogging with 31 min of walking. My goal is to slowly increase the time length of my jogging while decreasing my walking time. I had the shin problem when I played sports and we had to run, etc... during practice. It didn't take long for my shins to start hurting/burning yesterday. I know I am out of shape and I'm much heavier than when I played sports, so this probably contributes to it, but I don't want to injure my legs or discontinue my jogging goal b/c of it. What type of home treatments do some of you use to ease your pain after jogging so that you can recover for the next time.

P.S.: I won't be doing this everyday. I would like to aim for at least 3 - 4 times a week.

I couldn't jog because of the wear,tear and physical damage of professional skiing. But I found I could "Pace Walk" It is called other things like race walking, but they all work the same. It is a heal to toe movement with the arms swinging. It works if you pace walk so that for 150 minutes a week you pace walk with your pulse at the aerobic number for your age. When I was 50, that pulse was 120 a minute, now it is 80. You can find this on line.

Pace walking equals jogging for an aerobic workout(Heart,Lungs). It puts no undue pounding on joints. It is easy on the knees. It is a really good substitute for jogging. Do some research on the web. In the long run you won't regret it and you will keep up the Aerobic fitness that jogging and bad knees kill. Any questions? Write me. Glaun

The Perfect Speed"any number is a limit, and perfection doesn't have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.”Chiang from "Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Well done for getting moving! Starting exercising is definitely the hardest bit. For shin cramps, those beanbag things you heat in the microwave are good (not sure what they're called). But the main thing is to avoid cramping up in the first place. As you'll know from being sporty before, the best way to do that is to fit in lots of stretching, warming up and cooling down, whether you're walking or jogging. Sometimes, it can feel like a waste of time when you could be doing the actual exercise, but it'll really help you avoid the kind of recurrent pain, cramps and pulled muscles that'll literally stop you in your tracks or just put you off exercising at all. Just take your time, be a good friend to your body and be patient with it. It'll help you if you help it. And good luck!

"There's no secret. You train a lot and eat right" (Mo Farah, British Olympic marathon runner).

Thanks for the advice/responses Glaun and Startrekker! I truly appreciate it.

Yes, Startrekker, you are absolutely correct when it comes to stretching. I guess I wanted to just jump into it yesterday, but I paid for it, b/c I haven't been consistently working out in a long time.

startrekker is on another thread re: jogging so he's seen some of this this before. I can also not do high impact running, jogging, or aerobics etc. This is due to a major leg horse related injury that resulted in major leg surgery back in 1986. 95% chance of never walking on both legs again if I could I was looking at a knee replacement in 10 yrs. I was 37. Thanks to a good surgeon. physical therapists, lots of work and determination I can do most of what I want to. I don't trust ladders and per docs orders no high impact, running, or jogging. I have had no knee replacement as yet but lots of arthritis in my knees and ankles -- partially surgery related. New ortho doc as I moved and old doc retired wants me to lose 40#'s and keep moving stil have 28#'s to go. Says knee replacement is still 10 yrs off or more if I do that---Less if I don't lose wt and especially if I's go back to running or high impact aerobics. Still says low impact is best or that replacement will be looming much sooner. He recommended any type of walking, strength training, dancing, and yoga. So WALK WALK WALK it's good for you!!!

Thanks wholefoodnut! Ha! Yes I know that WALKING is great as well. I do plan on doing some walking. I'm almost 31 years old and my ultimate is to lose about 70-75 lbs in less than a year. So, I have to push myself and step it up if I want that weight to come off.

Hi again, Can't resist chipping in again to say that I effectively do interval training by jogging for as long as feels comfortable (at first, that was only 30 secs/steps) and walking in between. I can manage about 10 mins jogging non-stop and, in time, will probably do more. But that's taken a while to get to. In May, my weight loss goal was a hugely intimidating 100 lbs; I'm just about halfway there now. I definitely feel I'll be "healthy" rather than "obese" by the end of the year. I never took up jogging intentionally though; in fact, I used to swear that I hated running, it was unnatural and damaging, and I'd avoid it if I could. I just started slipping it in bit-by-bit whenever I was out walking because I knew it would burn more calories and, before you know it, here I am doing several miles every morning. I jog very *carefully* too, in terms of impact. If anything feels too uncomfortable, I know my body's telling me to let up a bit. After all, it's not a competition or a fight, so there's no need to force my body to do stuff it's not ready for. Instead, I try to listen to it and work with it, in a friendly rather than dominating way, even if that means there are days where I have to walk more than jog. To help things along, too, I'd recommend throwing in some Pilates. It's low impact and fabulous for strength-training, toning and flexibility. I swear I walk taller since I began doing it. Oh, and just in case it's relevant, wholefoodnut referred to me as "he" but I'm actually a "she".

"There's no secret. You train a lot and eat right" (Mo Farah, British Olympic marathon runner).

i'm going to be honest and say that i didn't read everyones answer because it's just too long and i'm on my way to the gym.

BUT when i started pace walking and jogging i also got really bad shin pains so bad that i sometimes had to get off of the treadmill and do some stretches just because i wanted to burst into tears so painful was it. however as i got fitter the pains went away. so it might just be because your muscles arent used to the force and the exercise. so i'd say keep walking and jogging but when it's painful take it easy. soon enough your body would have adjusted and it won't be that painful.

also make sure the shoes you use have enough padding so that the force exerted on your knees arent too bad.

I wore these Cho-pat compression sleeveswhen I first started running to relieve and prevent shin splints. They're great! Once I lost more of the weight, I didn't need them anymore (I do marathons, now!)

Ice after, but not more than twenty minutes.

Don't run everyday.

"The grass ain't greener, the wine ain't sweeter, either side of the hill" The Grateful Dead

Years ago in the military that was a major problem. Shin splints were a killer. Now that I am walking again, I am having the same problem. To keep it undercontrol, my wife Vicky and I start out as a modest pace, work up to a good clip and then cool down. We do about 1/4 mile warm up, 1.25 mile at a good clip and then about 1/4 to 1/2 mile at a gradual pace to cool down. We walk for about 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. This week we purchase a recunant bike and a treadmill so we can continue our routine in the cold, wet north. In a few months the snow will hit and for about 3 months walking outside will not be fun.

We are trying to improve my severe cardiac problems. I hate emergency rooms. 3 time in the last year.

Paul and Vicky

@ my doctors today: You've lost weight...YOU'VE LOST A LOT OF WEIGHT!"2 heart attacks, 4 heart cath's, something has to give...."Living is so much more fun than dying!

PBenKert... It's great that you have a workout partner and support system in your wife. Best of luck to you, especially in the cold months! I'm wondering what I will do when the time changes and jogging in the evenings will be out of the question.

I have done that, and worked the exercise into my day. Since there can be no dedicated afternoon, you have to do it minutes at a time. - I would intentionally park 1/2 mile from work. Then walk the ...